Hello, folks. We had the most unseasonably warm day today -- it was lovely. I pulled out all the dead tomato/pepper/squash plants and tidied up the veggie patch a bit. The bare spots look so ready to be planted but they soooo aren't. Only about another five months! Patience.

-- Luckily, I enjoy cold-weather food. As I finished this sweet potato, I found myself wondering why a person would ever bake a regular potato. I mean, they're good and all, but the sweet potato is the superior potato. I don't go in for eating them with sugar and cinnamon, though. Salt, pepper, and (in this instance) a little bit of parmesan.

-- I managed to ruin the last bit of my batch of cold press this morning, and I didn't have time to brew regular coffee, since my oatmeal was done cooking. So I went without until lunchtime, when I made some in my French press. Then I got another coffee while I was out running errands. If you witnessed a blur whistling Christmas tunes in Target today, that was me.

-- Sometimes I fall into YouTube and somehow lose hours watching Elvis Costello videos. It's the late 70s ones that get me; I can't resist those glasses. I would like to have an Elvis Costello cover band -- a folksy, acoustic one, obviously.

-- I'm usually very apathetic when it comes to holidays (all holidays), but I have to admit to feeling 'in the spirit' about Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Instead of rolling my eyes, I got a little bit excited by the appearance of Christmas tat on the shelves at Target. Hence the aforementioned whistling. Of course, at one point I also thought, 'Oh man, I can feel my socks on the bottom of my feet!' -- the caffeine may have made me slightly more prone to giddiness than usual.

-- Tomorrow is Halloween, and I'm going to an actual party in an actual costume. Other people had better come in costumes too, as mine involves a very short skirt. Without other dressed-up party-goers, I'll just look a bit tarty. Hmm.

Okay, so I did come back, in the end. And right now, with one cat on my legs and the other nearby in his basket, I'm pretty glad that I did. I actually flew back on Thursday, but I've been busy with family events and trying to overcome jetlag and coping with the fact that it's seriously Autumn, soon to be followed by Winter.

The first frost came while I was away, so I returned to dead tomato plants (and squash and peppers). I rescued a few ripening fruits, but there sure are a lot of green tomatoes out there. Bah. The broccoli and kale and brussels sprouts are perfectly fine with the cool weather, though.

So, I would mark down my Frankfurt trip as a success. The timing was perfect: on Monday (when I went to Mainz), I was thinking I HAD to postpone my flight back, see if I could stay in the hotel for a few more days. I didn't want to return to my regular life. But by Tuesday evening, I was perfectly happy that I had only one more day left before I had to leave. There's something to be said for being able to sit around and do nothing in your own home.

Being away let me appreciate the fact that I do have a house of my own. After living in a room that was just one of many in somebody else's building, the idea of an entire home that's mine seemed novel and exciting again. I think that going through the same routines every day makes me forget how significant it is that I'm able to keep things running and in order. When I was away, the idea that I have a cupboard with a box in it, which contains (among other things) two packs of ballpoint pens -- and they all belong to me -- it seemed sort of marvelous. I know it sounds silly, but it's enough to make a person want to come back.

Well, that and the little grey cat (who is now on my arm).

Okay, chaps -- this is it. Sell the cats to the highest bidder, because I'm not coming back; I'm moving to Mainz. This might seem a bit spur-of-the-moment, but you'll see I've thought through all the important stuff.

Mainz has a multi-story craft/art store and an organic supermarket and. . . I've checked my list, and those are my only two requirements, it seems. Okay, so I will admit that there might be a couple of complications when it comes to the whole just-staying-here thing, but it is tempting. I can't say that about my last few holiday destinations.

I mean, look at this selection of vegetarian food stuffs -- it fills the entire frame! I was convinced that Germany just didn't 'do' vegetarian beyond a cheese sandwich, but I was wrong. Almost the entire right-hand side of that photo is filled with a variety of seasoned tofus, and the top row is all fake cold-cuts. I don't usually enjoy the young person's Internet web-speak, but OMG, Germany. I do not have enough time remaining to enjoy all this before I leave. Why must life be so cruel?

I took the S Bahn from Frankfurt this morning (it's roughly a forty-minute journey to Mainz), walked all around, and returned in time for dinner. I was on my feet the entire time, except for my afternoon coffee and snack, and boy, did I feel it. Not so much in my legs (I procured a new purse, which helped with that), but just energy-wise. On the train back, I was looking forward to falling into bed for a rest the same way one might look forward to their bathroom when they've forgotten change for the pay-toilets (say). But it was a good, honest exhaustion, the kind that come only from hours upon hours of diligent shopping.

The only disappointment was that the museums are closed on Mondays (I did know that before I went), so I couldn't visit the Gutenberg museum. I think I might have enjoyed that. I'll have to settle with the Museum fur Kommunikation tomorrow -- a steal at only 2,50 EUR for an adult. Old phones? Okay! With a side of veggie salami, bitte.

I'm done with Frankfurt (the fair), so now I can get back to enjoying Frankfurt (the city)! It was a pretty typical fair -- a lot of positive noises from passers-by and interesting appointments and a large amount of boredom as well. On the Tuesday before the fair, though, I visited both the Senckenberg Natural History Museum and the Palmengarten.

The natural history museum was fun. I don't think I've seen a triceratops skeleton up close very recently, and it was very amusing to imagine the reaction when the first one was discovered. Because, really -- a monster! I also enjoyed looking at the bits of meteorite they had on display; it was hard to conceive of how far they had traveled when they looked just like. . . rocks. So, natural history: thumbs up.

The Palmengarten was pretty amazing, though. Not only were the leaves brilliantly coloured, but there were huge clumps of dahlias in bloom everywhere. The picture above is of a chrysanthemum (unopened) that was growing in one of the floral displays. Careful with the next photo, or Autumn will hit you right in the face:

Pretty incredible. As I had predicted in my last post, I woke up Tuesday morning with legs that barely functioned. I've had sore legs before, but this was something entirely new and more extreme. I'd really messed up the muscles/tendons at the front of my hips, and walking was. . . a challenge, and going up stairs was nearly impossible. My right leg was much more affected than the left, and I imagine I looked quite pathetic as I hobbled around that day. Luckily, five days of remaining stationary at the bookfair seems to have fixed me up.

This afternoon, I bailed out of the bookfair early and visited the Museum fur Moderne Kunst (apologies, but I don't think Movable Type will allow an umlaut on the 'u' -- just pretend it's there). They have a huge Takashi Murakami exhibit on right now, and it was incredible. I swear the little explanations on the walls were better than any I've read before; they did and amazing job of explaining the depth of meaning in the pieces without sounding like they were complete BS. So well done, whoever writes those for a living.

So, now that all the worky bits have wrapped up, I'm very excited to get on with the fun stuff! Hooray fun!

Hello from Frankfurt! Hallo, rather. My flights were on time, my luggage made it here safely, I've got wifi in my hotel -- why, things are just primed for disaster! But really, it's going well so far.

-- Due in no small part, I'm sure, to the travel sandwich. I never cross an ocean without one. It's a rule I live by; it's all part of treating yourself with a bit of decency. This one was particularly tasty as I sat in the Detroit airport, waiting for my second flight to board.

-- I've asked for a vegan meal the past couple of long-haul flights I've been on, and they're disappointing, but disappointing in a new way, so that's fun. Instead of being grossed out by mushy pasta with pools of oil and cheese, I can be modestly satisfied with a strange chickpea curry and instead saddened by the pathetic dessert.

-- Frankfurt is really pretty when the leaves are changing colour! I guess it's been this time of year every other time I've visited, but I've usually been fatigued by the fair and out only during the dawn and dusk hours. So I take back all the cruel things I've said about your appearance, Frankfurt.

-- I had hardly been in the city/country/continent for half a dozen hours and I was already able to check off three major tasks: the procuring of A) a German decor magazine (Haus Idee), B) yogurt in a glass jar, and C) hand lotion in a pot.

-- Those two photos might be the only ones I'm able to upload while I'm here. I regularly scoff at my MacBook when it warns me about removing my flash card without first ejecting it, and it seems it's finally laying down the law. After I saved these two photos, I pulled the card out, and now it refuses to recognize it. The light on the reader turns on, and then the fan whirs and whirs (and continues to do so until I shut down the machine), but there's no intelligent connection between the computer and the card/reader. Anybody have any tips for sweet-talking MacBooks? I suppose I could always buy a USB cable and load directly from the camera, eh? Bother.

-- I so recklessly took the card out without ejecting because I decided to have one last stroll for the day, down to the river, to take photos of the sun which was very nearly out (and getting low) and which may not come out again while I'm here. Here's an idea: if your legs are already killing you, don't go for a 'quick stroll' that winds up having miles of detours. I won't be surprised if I'm temporarily crippled in the morning.

-- Honestly. You just go a bit sedentary for a couple of months and then try to walk a dozen miles on zero hours of sleep, and your body refuses to get with the program. What's up with that?

-- Tomorrow, I'm going to visit two different museum/museum-like establishments. I hate those kinds of places, but I'm very excited. Four words: dinosaur skellingtons and greenhouses. (Not together, although I WISH!)

-- I thought I was done, but one last thing: Drinking gallons of water and getting lots of physical activity (walking) really does help with jetlag. Well, I mean, it's past 9pm and I'm still going strong on my first evening, and that's unusual. Let's not think about what will happen when I wake up in the middle of the night, needing to pee but unable to move my legs. Oh ho, the stories I'll be able to tell!

Look at me! I'm turning my ways around! Two posts, in a row, in which I address questions/requests left in the comments of older posts. There's no telling where this could lead. Probably to a ten-day trip abroad and utter silence. Hey ho.

Over a month ago, Cat tagged me for a Six Quirky Things meme. It's tricky to pin down six things that are 'quirky' and not 'frightening', but I'll give it a go.

-- I may have mentioned it before, but I have excellent turn-out. I think it's just down to the shape of my skellington, but I can actually turn my feet out more than 180 degrees. If only I had an ounce of grace, I'd be such a good ballerina.

-- If I pet a dog, I have to wash my hands as soon as I can. Same with birds and. . . well, most animals, apart from cats. But dogs are particularly bad, as they're so oily. Urg.

-- When I've been doing a lot of proofreading, it totally messes with my pleasure-reading. I constantly try to insert commas or click on the styles pallet to tag things up.

-- I almost always need to have a hot drink when I eat baked goods. Sometimes this leaves me feeling unwell (all the sugar plus caffeine plus sloshy liquids), but it's hard to resist.

-- When I was growing up, the Star Tribune's daily comics pages were laid out thusly: On the verso, the horoscopes, puzzles, single-panel comics, etc; on the recto, all the other multi-pane comics. For some reason, they switched this a while back (okay, over a decade ago), but I cannot adapt. Instead, I read the right-hand side first and then the left.

-- For as long as I can remember, whenever I go for a walk (or sit on a train or bus, etc) and pass by strange little hiding places, I imagine what would happen if I heard and found a stray kitten. Obviously, I would rescue it and bring it home and scrub it up. One of these days. . .

I know you're not supposed to say, 'Oh dear, it's been sooo long since I updated!' It's like a blog no-no. But then, people also used to say that nobody cares what you ate for lunch, and that's clearly not the case anymore. So, gosh! It's been a while. I was doing so well about updating frequently this summer, but I guess I've slipped recently. Oh well.

-- I've been doing a bit of crafty stuff, including the above: a case for my glasses, a zip pouch for the loose bits that float around in my bag/purse, and some silly stamps. I also made a dress that I'm very pleased with -- I've altered it a bit since I took that photo, but it's the only one I've got. I used a vintage girls' jumper/dress pattern and about 25 cents worth of yard-sale material. I then went back and added my own darts to both the front and back, making it as fitted as possible while still being able to get it on and off without a zipper. I'm getting more comfortable with this clothes-making thing.

-- I'm taking off for Frankfurt in a few days. Going over for the bookfair and some exploring. I'm really bad about answering every question that pops up in the comments, but to the person who asked: I'm a freelance publisher, although I do most of my work for one small (but successful!) press. I've probably linked to its website before, but I'd prefer not to do so now. Basically, I do most of the work behind the production of books -- acquisitions, editing, cover design, type-setting, etc. And sometimes I get to jet over to foreign countries and eat their bread. That's my favourite part.

-- I think it's funny how we all know that things get easier with practice, yet we often refuse to believe it. We figure if something's difficult at the beginning, we're just no good at it. I think this is particularly true with cooking, because it can take a while to get comfortable with ingredients, figure out how things 'work', and be able to just wing it. So I often feel like I keeping telling people to 'just do it!' when they want to learn how to cook.

But I also realized how much patience cooking can require, when I noticed that the meal in the photo above took almost a full hour of prep. I often like to find shortcuts when it comes to other tasks, but I never seem to mind that it takes so long to wash and chop and saute. At any rate, that tofu scramble was among my best, I'd say. My favourite marinade for tofu these days (for about half a block of tofu) includes a couple tablespoons of tamari, about half a tbsp nutritional yeast, and dashes of garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and sometimes chili powder. It's the nutritional yeast that really makes it, though.

I'm going to season some slices of tofu this way for my travel-sandwich on Sunday. That's the best part of having to fly around the world, after all. Distance traveled from sandwich's origin has a positive, direct effect on the deliciousness of sandwich. I've done the research.

Okay, Autumn has tricked me. I've been determined to detest it and throw mental temper-tantrums about the changing seasons, but the past two days have been absolutely gorgeous. Temperatures in the low sixties, a light breeze, and tons of sunshine. Not to worry -- starting Sunday, it's supposed to be grey and miserable for a good long while, so I can get back to the detesting.

-- My cantaloupe vine produced five (or was it six?) full-sized melons. But there was also a mini-melon that started growing right next to one of the others; the plant clearly put less energy into growing that one. I didn't think it would even mature, but I checked on it yesterday, and it was ripe. Snack melon! It was the perfect size, about as big as a large apple, and the bottom was completely flat. I just lopped it off like a lid and dug in.

-- September ending means that I've now done two full months of the 365 project -- a photo every day. You can see the photos here, divided by month. I find it really interesting to look at the group of thumbnails from August and compare them to September. The August group just looks hot and muggy, while September seems more full of fresh air. I'm excited to see how this changes each month!

-- My mom makes these 'St Ben's Rolls' -- sort of like a cinnamon roll, but the dough doesn't have yeast (I don't have the recipe, sorry). I had oatmeal for breakfast three days this week, another sign that I'm coming to accept Autumn. I've even been thinking about baking pumpkin bread.

-- I had a stroke of genius today. It wasn't so much cutting the hole in the box (that was fairly obvious). But the piece of carpet on top was truly inspired. I'm expecting some sort of award nomination from the cats later. That carpet, by the way, was what covered one of the posts at the bottom of my basement stairs (and which still covers the other, because it belongs to Beany. See here.)